Will Banksy Retaliate After Oscar Loss?
by Elizabeth Sexton
Nothing says “give me an Oscar” like graffiti images of a drunken Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
Hollywood was graced by sightings of Banksy’s new stencil work in what was speculated as an ongoing “un-campaign” for the Oscar-nominated documentary, “Exit Through the Gift Shop.”
The street art (which can be viewed and downloaded on the British street artist’s website) popped up throughout Los Angeles and included a urinating dog (seen in Beverly Hills), a mischievous Charlie Brown, a child spraying a machine gun loaded with crayons across a field of flowers, and a drunk Mickey and Minnie Mouse, with the slogan “Living the Dream.”
If it was truly an anti-Oscar campaign, it did the trick. Banksy’s documentary sharing an inside story of illegal Street Art lost, despite being laced with all the mystic, artistic flair and social-justice hitting issues that a respectable documentary should have. Banksy never reveals his own identity, not to mention there has been a lot of speculation regarding the truth to the “fairy-tale” like story that unfolds, and whether or not it was a new set-up for the artist to make yet another statement.
Chances are the answer will be found in the next stream of Street Art attacks. As of late, no new Banksy sightings have been reported.
The "un-campaign" only adds texture to the debate of whether street art is really art, if it is legal and if it is valuable to the world of art collection. Banksy's images, although an act of defacing, result in streams of fans who visit the site to admire the work. The art is usually taken down by officials and the value lost forever.
The billboard poster of Mickey and Minnie was removed despite the nearby gas station owners offering $10,000 for it. Interestingly, his images are available online for personal use free of charge.